Integrated digital marketing and advertising agency Cheil UK has announced the appointment of Rikke Wichmann-Bruun to the newly created role of Managing Director, Client Services as part of its plan to accelerate growth and client expansion. Wichmann-Bruun was most recently CEO at relationship marketing agency MRM. Her previous roles include UK Group Managing Director at Oliver, Managing Director at Adjust Your Set, Managing Director at 360i, and Regional MD, Automotive at Saatchi & Saatchi. She also held senior client-facing roles at Ogilvy Action, BBDO and Arc Worldwide. In her new role at Cheil UK, she will report into and work closely with CEO Chris Camacho to lead client relationships and expand the agency’s client portfolio. She will oversee a team of 55 people spanning account management, project management, marketing and new business for UK and multinational clients.
D&AD, an organisation which represents creative, design, and advertising communities, has announced the appointment of Kwame Taylor-Hayford as its new President for the 2024/2025 term, succeeding Jack Renwick. Taylor-Hayford is the first D&AD President based in New York. Elected annually by the D&AD Board of Trustees, the President leads the organisation in driving its mission forward. As a member of the D&AD Impact Council since 2017, Impact Jury President in 2020 and 2022, and a D&AD Trustee, Taylor-Hayford has played a key role in shaping the organisation’s direction. Additionally, as Resident Executive Creative Director for Shift NYC, he has helped cultivate new pathways for diverse and emerging talent. In his role as D&AD President, he will focus on empowering the next generation of creative leaders, with a specific focus on mentorship and advancement of talent in the middle of their careers.
The Ingenuity Group has announced the rebrand of it intermediary service – now known as Ingenuity+. As part of the rebrand, Richard Robinson (Executive Director) and Gill Huber (Managing Director) have joined the service from Future Factory, part of The Ingenuity Group, where they’ve been working since leaving Oystercatchers earlier this year. Robinson will also join the Executive Committee of the group, and report into Ingenuity’s CEO and Founder Chris Kemp.
Measurement solutions provider Brand Metrics has announced the addition of Alysha Dino to its team as VP of CTV & Enterprise Sales, bringing with her two decades of experience in technology sales, with the last 10 years focused on connected TV. Dino spent five years working for AOL during the period when the company was acquired by Verizon. After AOL, she moved into the startup space, helping ad tech companies build products for connected TV. Since 2021, she has been working as Global Publisher Partnerships Director for Publica, owned by Integral Ad Science. At Brand Metrics, Dino will be to work alongside Head of CTV Robby Kraai to create CTV solutions that will add an extra dimension to Brand Metrics’ existing measurement products.
Creative agency StrawberryFrog has appointed Steve Scutellaro, who has been Managing Director at Deep Focus for the past five years, to General Manager. This is the first time StrawberryFrog, which celebrates its 25-year anniversary this year, has appointed a General Manager. Scutellaro started his career at Rosetta (later acquired by RazorFish. He then moved to Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he led a range of integrated campaigns for Best Buy, including Super Bowl commercials. Next, at Deutsch LA, he led brands like PlayStation, Taco Bell, and Target. He then moved to Pereira O’Dell’s office in New York. Since then, he has been running Deep Focus, where he led the agency through an acquisition. During those five years, he was overseeing work for brands like HBO, Aruba Tourism, Jägermeister, Bravo Network, and AvisBudget Group. Also comprising the revamped leadership team will be Nicola Coneally who has been promoted to VP Operations and HR.
Sleek, an experience marketing agency, has appointed Steve Austen-Brown as its new Creative Director. As the agency’s first in-house Creative Director, he will be responsible for overseeing the development of creative strategies for clients. He will also be responsible for building the creative studio to reflect the ambition and vision of the agency as it moves to a full-service agency. Austen-Brown joins Sleek from Avantgarde, where he served as Head of Creative and Design in London. In this role, he led a team of creatives, overseeing projects for brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, eBay, Porsche, and the UK government.
Topsort, an artificial intelligence and auction-based retail media infrastructure company, has announced the appointment of Umer Paracha as its new Head of Marketing. Paracha brings over a decade of experience in eCommerce, digital transformation, and retail media to the team in his new role. Paracha’s career spans leadership positions across industries, including his time as Director of Digital Marketing at Daraz.pk. He previously served as Director of eCommerce & Growth at Lansinoh Laboratories and, prior to this, spent two years at QIAGEN.
Digital marketing agency Ink Digital has announced the appointment of Tony Morgan as Senior SEO Account Manager and Isabella Howells as Junior Content Writer. Morgan will play a fundamental role in implementing new processes to further refine the agency’s approach to SEO, while Howells will allow the agency to bring all its content writing in-house.
